Our footsteps echoed o pavement, still damp from st night’s rain. The m air in this city felt colder than usual—or maybe it was just my imagination. I still wasn’t fully aced to the atmosphere of this pce, especially after learning that murders were a on occurrence here.

  Beside me, Azami Yuki—the female version of myself—walked with fidence. Her eyes were sharp and focused, a stark trast to the rexed demeanor she had shown earlier that m. Right now, she wasn’t just a struggling college student but a private detective with a reputation well-known in this city.

  We arrived at a narrow alley already cordoned off with police tape. Several officers were busy taking notes and speaking with eyewithe faiallic smell of blood lingered in the air, mingling with the stench of rotting garbage.

  I swallowed hard as I caught sight of the corpse.

  A woman y in an unnatural position—her head resting against the rough brick wall while her body was folded awkwardly over a pile of trash bags. Her neck bore deep, dark bruises, a stark trast against her pale skin. Her eyes were wide opey, devoid of life.

  I tried to suppress the nausea rising in my stomach. This was the first time I had seen a corpse in such a state.

  Meanwhile, Azami Yuki crouched he victim, examining her carefully without hesitation. She touched the victim’s wrist, then briefly lifted her eyelid. After that, she sed the surroundings, her eyes analyzing every possible detail.

  "Time of death was likely ht ho," she murmured softly, almost as if talking to herself. "Cause of death is clear—strangution. But the method... this isn’t just ordinary strangution."

  I frowned. "What do you mean?"

  She extended her hand, pointing to the victim’s neck. "Look at this. The bruising isn’t uniform. If someorangled her with their bare hands, the bruising would typically be more circur and symmetrical. But here..." She traced her finger along the uneven bruising. "...there are deeper marks iain areas. It’s as if a tool was used, not just bare hands."

  I swallowed hard. "So the killer used a tool?"

  She nodded. "Most likely. It could be a rope, a wire, or something simir."

  I gnced around. The alley was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The streetlight was broken, leaving it dark at night. There weren’t many escape routes, except...

  I looked up. There was an emergency staircase leading down from the sed floor of a nearby building.

  "Could the killer have escaped that way?" I asked, pointing to the staircase.

  Azami followed my gaze, then gave a faint smile. "Most likely, yes." She then turo one of the police officers standing nearby. "Hey, I see the list of witnesses who first discovered the body?"

  A female officer handed her a small notebook. Azami skimmed through it quickly, then looked at me.

  "The victim was found around 5 a.m. by a sger looking for recycbles in the area."

  I thought for a moment. "If the sger found the body at 5 a.m., and you said the victim died arou hours earlier... that means the murder happened around 9 or 10 p.m., right?"

  She nodded. "Exactly."

  I looked around, trying to piece together the se. "Then there’s a eone heard something. This alley is narrow, and sound would echo here. If the victim screamed or struggled, someone should’ve heard it."

  Azami smiled approvingly. "Your mind’s starting to work, huh?"

  I snorted. "I’m just trying to think logically."

  She gnced back at the witness hen nodded. "There’s one person who reported hearing a otion around 9 p.m. A woman living in a sed-floor apartment in the buildio this alley."

  I looked at the building. Its windows were closed, but the curtains inside seemed to shift slightly.

  "We should talk to her," I said.

  Azami nodded. "Agreed."

  We left the crime se and made our way to the sed floor of the building. The door to the apartment was simple, with the number 202 dispyed above it. Azami knocked several times.

  A few seds ter, a middle-aged ehe door, her expression wary.

  "Are you from the police?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

  Azami fshed her badge. "I’m a private detective. We’d like to ask you a few questions about what you heard st night."

  The womaated, then opehe door wider, gesturing for us to e in.

  Her apartment was small and modest but tidy. She sat nervously on the couch while we stood nearby.

  "I didn’t see anything," she said before we could even ask. "But I heard something. There were quick footsteps, like someone running in the alley. Then... the sound of something falling."

  I exged a gh Azami. "Something falling? Like a heavy object?"

  The woman nodded. "I’m not sure. But shortly after that, I heard the emergency staircase rattling. Like someone was climbing it in a hurry."

  I immediately thought of the staircase I had seen earlier. "So the killer escaped using the emergency staircase?"

  Azami crossed her arms, her expression serious. "Most likely. That means the killer is familiar with this area. It could be someone who knows this pce well."

  The woman bit her lip, hesitating before adding, "Before all that happened, I heard a woman’s voice. But I couldn’t make out what she was saying."

  Azami nodded. "Alright, thank you for the information."

  As we left the woman’s apartment, I took a deep breath.

  "So, what now?" I asked.

  Azami gave a small smile, her eyes gleaming with the enthusiasm of a detective who had just found a crucial lead.

  "Now, we find out who the woman was that spoke to the victim before the murder."

  I stared at her ily.

  Without realizing it, I had already been fully drawn into this case.